Dr. Robert Kennedy, Interim President of the Board of Regents of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut, photographed at Housatonic Community College, in Bridgeport, Conn. Sept. 21st, 2011.

Dr. Robert Kennedy, Interim President of the Board of Regents of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut, photographed at Housatonic Community College, in Bridgeport, Conn. Sept. 21st, 2011.

Photo: Ned Gerard

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Dr. Robert Kennedy, Interim President of the Board of Regents of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut, seated here with Housatonic Community College President Anita Gliniecki, meets with HCC students in Bridgeport, Conn. Sept. 21st, 2011. less

Dr. Robert Kennedy, Interim President of the Board of Regents of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut, seated here with Housatonic Community College President Anita Gliniecki, meets with HCC students ... more

Robert A. Kennedy, picked by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to lead his new merger of the Connecticut state universities, community college system and Charter Oak external degree program, spent last Wednesday at HCC, talking to staff, students and local leaders.

He couldn't get over the college's extensive art collection and declared the two-building campus -- built on the shell of a former urban shopping mall -- as nice as he has seen at the University of Maine, where he last served as president, or any of the other universities he has worked at over the past three decades.

HCC was the first stop on a 17-campus tour. His mission was to ask questions and listen.

"If I say the merger is going to save money, 80 percent of our budget is personnel," said Kennedy who hopes the downsizing can happen through attrition, not wholesale elimination of programs.

Miyanda Mudingayi, from Zambia, is studying civil engineering. She wanted to know what would change.

Kennedy said he hopes changes will be for the better.

"I don't see much changing that would be negative to the institution, maybe additional opportunities and advantages that can be brought to the institution. I see it as positive things," he said.

After hearing he was impressed with HCC, Mudingayi asked if that might "mean more funds for us."

In time, Kennedy hopes so.

"If I didn't think there would be additional resources, I don't think I'd be here," said Kennedy, who has a reputation for turning higher education institutions into job creation machines.

Interim for now, Kennedy is expected to become president officially when the new state board is fully in place in January. "You might think the community colleges are better off, given my background, but I don't think either system has to worry," Kennedy said.

Kennedy grew a reputation in Maine for favoring programs that promote economic development over liberal arts. In Maine, he eliminated the university's Latin program in a budget-cutting move.

He points out that Latin had four majors and music, which engineering students lobbied intensely for, was saved. "I probably did more for the art program at the University of Maine than any other program," he said.

Kennedy said his goal is to build collaborations and reduce redundancy in the state's 12 community colleges and its four state universities.

One area he wants to grow are programs that focus on science, technology, engineering and math, so-called "STEM" programs. He also wants to work with the state's incoming Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor, to reduce the number of students entering college in need of help before they can start credit work.

Contact Linda Lambeck at 203-330-6218 or lclambeck@ctpost.com. Follow her at twitter.com/lclambeck.